41 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
41 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Power of Free and Open-Source"
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date: 2023-04-27T12:59:58+06:00
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featureImage: images/blog/highcountry.png
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author: Blake Burris
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authorThumb: images/author/blake.png
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---
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### Choosing Free and Open Source
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Maybe Federated Core is the first time you and your team or business are explicitly choosing free and open-source software over some other solution that is costly and proprietary. In that case, we thought we would lay out why you've made the right choice.
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### Is it Really "Free"?
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But let's get the elephant in the room out of the way first. Federated Computer charges $39/month, so how is anything "free"?
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True, we charge for the "service" of running a bunch of open-source software packages on a (virtual) computer. We have to pay for that computer (hardware, network, power, cooling), and so we have to pass that cost on to you. We aren't a charity. You could decide to go buy your own hardware and do everything Federated on that hardware.
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### Free!
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Here's where the "free" comes in. You can do everything we are doing with Federated Core with the same software *without cost** on your own hardware or on another virtual hardware. No cost. Nothing. Free. Federated Computer lists all the pieces of free software we have used to create our solution for Customers. You can do the same. Free. No skin off our nose.
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### Open Source!
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But there's more. You can, because the software is published as text files (source code) that you can examine and change and extend, create a solution like Federated Core for yourself and even for others. Go for it!
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That is the "power" of free and open-source software.
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### Contributing
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With "power" comes, we hope you'll recognize, great responsibility. Since we all benefit from this tremendous decentralized ecosystem of free and open-source software, it is important that we find ways to contribute to keeping the ecosystem healthy. Here are some suggestions for involvement:
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1. Use fre and open-source solutions whenever possible. Help to build the Customer ecosystem.
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2. Support vendors who are building open systems and solutions on free and open-source software. If you can leave the vendor and build your own version of the vendor's offering, it is an open system.
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3. Contribute time/talent/treasure to your favorite free and open-source projects. Maybe you can help with a piece of art, or some better documentation, or even code itself.
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Federated Computer will be enabling our Customers to direct some portion of their monthly fees ($4) back to the open source projects that make up Federated Core. We will also be contributing our changes back to component projects and open-sourcing our "management and configuration" plane for you to use in your own projects.
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